8 Aug, 2018 15:15

‘I don’t understand why I’m not among the candidates’ – Maradona on Argentina national team job

Football icon Diego Maradona has expressed dismay at apparently being snubbed by the Argentinian media as a potential candidate to take over as manager of the national team.

In an Instagram post published on Tuesday, the 1986 World Cup winner said he didn’t understand why Argentinian sports outlets ignored him in their list of candidates to take over at the helm of the national team, after the departure of Jorge Sampaoli.

“With due respect to the Argentine national team, I want to say that it bothers me that some journalists do not include me in the list of the possible candidates,” the former Napoli and Barcelona star wrote.

“I regret that some Argentine newspapers speak about other former team managers, but not about me. But this is the sports journalism we have in Argentina,” the 57-year-old said.

Acá, en casa, recuperándome de dos operaciones que tuve con mi dentista, el Dr. Braverman, para poder empezar a ver jugadores para mi equipo, el Dinamo Brest. La verdad es que el mercado se disparó y yo no puedo jugar con la plata de los dirigentes, y mucho menos con este dolor en la boca. Así que quiero recuperarme y ponerme 10 puntos. Por esto es que no estoy yendo a los programas de TV, que me invitan, y estoy hablando por las redes sociales. Con respecto a la selección argentina, quiero decir que me jode que algunos periodistas no me incluyan entre los posibles técnicos. Mientras me operaban, escuchaba al Chavo Fucks, por ejemplo, y ni siquiera me nombró entre los posibles candidatos. Yo me acuerdo de sus comienzos, cuando yo todavía jugaba, y pareciera que ahora él ya no me conociera. Y lamento que tampoco me tengan en cuenta algunos diarios argentinos, que sí hablan de otros ex técnicos de la selección, pero no de mí. Pero bueno, éste es el periodismo deportivo que tenemos los argentinos. De todas maneras yo tengo un contrato de 3 años, y el Dínamo tiene mi palabra. Aunque yo por la selección doy la vida.
A post shared by Diego Maradona Oficial (@maradona) on Aug 6, 2018 at 2:54pm PDT

Maradona recently joined Belarusian club Dinamo Brest as chairman on a three-year contract, but said he would give his life to take the helm of the national team.

“Anyway, I have a three-year contract with Dinamo [Brest], and they have my word. Although I would give my life for being selected [as the team manager],” he wrote.

Last month the Argentinian icon said he was prepared to coach the national team for free, after Sampaoli left the post in the wake of the country’s underwhelming performance at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they bowed out in the last 16 to eventual winners France.

Maradona previously had a stint as national team manager between 2008 and 2010, leading the team to the World Cup in South Africa. They suffered a 4-0 defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals, after which the Argentinian Football Association decided not to renew his contract.

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